‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’ is Unflinching: A Review

There are very few first-person shooter games nowadays where I find myself more excited for the campaign than the multiplayer. Growing up, the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the Xbox 360 was the first encounter I had in the series. A friend introduced me to the game and I proceeded to spend the entire night completing the campaign on veteran difficulty while he slept in the other room. This would spark an addiction to the franchise and become a contributing factor in why I have bought every Call of Duty game around release. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is no different. Serving as a prequel and reboot of one of my all-time favorite stories, this is the best campaign experience in the history of the series.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s campaign opens up with a terrorist hopping out of a van with a bomb strapped to his chest in the middle of a crowded Piccadilly Circus in London. Paired with realistic graphics, this sets the mood for the darkest and grittiest story in the franchise. The story pits three separate factions against one another: the United States and the United Kingdom pair up with Urzikstan’s freedom fighters, a terrorist group Al-Qatala is led by Omar “The Wolf” Sulaman, and Russians are led by Roman Barkov as they occupy Urzikstan. At first glance, it seems like there is a clear good and bad side to this war. Yet, as the story progresses, you quickly realize that everything isn’t so black and white.

Presented to us is an ensemble cast of characters that I grew to love over the course of my six hour playthrough. Predominantly set in the modern era., most of the characters are new. Bouncing back and forth between characters, you play as CIA Officer Alex, SAS Sergeant Kyle Garrick, and Commander Farah Ahmed Karim. Alex finds himself with Farah as they fight back the Russian infiltration in Urzikstan. In another part of the world, Kyle Garrick begins by dealing with the horrendous terrorist attacks in London. Accompanying him is a familiar and well-rounded Captain John Price, who serves as the glue that keeps this team together. 

Farah is an integral part to the overall story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. A majority of her gameplay takes place during her past, serving as the building blocks for establishing the game’s main antagonist, Roman Barkov. Her first playable mission begins with her as a child, trapped under a collapsed building in Urzikstan. Farah is able to free herself from the rubble that is pinning her down, but she is still trapped inside the collapsing building. Her mother is lying dead to her right and she is alone in the dark. Suddenly there are voices nearby, and I begin to panic as if I’m trapped in there with her. I frantically search for anything to call their attention. I find a brick and begin beating it against the sheet metal as hard and as fast as I can. Eventually I’m greeted by friendly faces and sunlight that I’ve taken for granted. Despite knowing that she obviously makes it out, I was truly scared and worried about her survival.  Placing me in the role of a child during a time of war presented me with a viewpoint that often isn’t shown in these games. For the first time, I felt helpless in Farah’s body as her father carried her through gunfire and poisonous gases. I didn’t have a gun to save the day. I knew that the bad guys were going to win and I couldn’t stop them. 

Before you can play the campaign, you must agree to a mature content notice that warns the player of graphic or intense content. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is filled with horrific moments like Farah’s near-death experience. In these moments, I couldn’t help but think of the controversial  “No Russian” mission in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In the level, you play as an undercover CIA agent who participates in a mass shooting at an airport to gain the trust of a Russian terrorist group. While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare never reaches that level of the player committing a mass shooting, the story hits close to home with the helplessness that it creates. Tragedies like the terrorist attack in Piccadilly Circus and children dying in the bombing of Urzikstan happen in real life. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare wants to show this tragedy to us so that we may have a better understanding of what these people go through.

Throughout the game, you are presented with choices that actively blur the line of good and evil. The option of choice is a feature typically not found in the Call of Duty franchise. One choice in particular occurs during the interrogation of The Butcher. Presented in front of you is a man who has caused mass chaos and destruction early on in the game. In order to get him to talk, Price and his Russian friend, Nikolai, bring in the only thing that The Butcher cares about. His wife and child. Playing as Kyle Garrick, I was tasked with retrieving them from the van and bringing them to the room. Kyle is greeted at the door by Price who tells me that he doesn’t have to do this. Angered by the carnage that I saw The Butcher commit, I followed through with my task and walked into the room. With gun in hand and the ability to point it at The Butcher or his family to get the answer we needed, the tone became so uncomfortable that I took a break from the game after the mission was over. Ultimately, we got our answer and I left the room with the terrorist and his family still alive. The mission ends with Price stating, “There’s a fine line between right and wrong.”  As more choices come forth, I am faced with the moral dilemma of deciding someone’s fate. In one instance, Farah is being interrogated by Roman Barkov. Instead of telling him the who Commander Karim was, I lied and he shot one of Farah’s friends in front of her. I knew I made the right choice, but a life was lost because of my actions. In instances like this, being given the power to choose your path felt amazing. I felt able to make an impact on the world with the choices I made. 

The option of choice isn’t the only feature that created a breath of fresh air. One moment I’m flying RC drones through the air to take down sniper nests or machine gun-mounted helicopters. In another moment, I’m using camera feeds to guide a civilian woman through a building filled with gun toting terrorists. However, my favorite moments occurred with the clever use of lighting. Lighting is synonymous with fear and death in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.  It quite often reminded me of my childhood fear of the dark, where something dangerous could be lurking around every corner. There are several instances where I played as Kyle Garrick in night vision missions. These typically followed a pattern of infiltrating a building complex in search of our current target in the story. However, what I found to be absolutely incredible was how tense I felt during these missions. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare constantly plays with the idea of determining who is good and who is bad. While slowly moving from room to room in these missions, I was faced with the instant decision of determining if the person behind each door in the dark was innocent or wielding a gun.  Sometimes I was right in thinking they were only a victim of war. Other times I found myself being shot in the head by a woman that I thought was reaching for her child instead of a gun. The pressure was immense during these missions, but now they sit up there as some of the greatest in Call of Duty history for me.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is an unrelenting reboot and prequel to a fan-favorite story. Realistic characters, memorable missions, and refreshing gameplay craft a narrative that is undoubtedly invigorating for fans who have been disappointed in the last several iterations. If this is the direction that the series will be heading towards, I have faith that the future of Call of Duty will be phenomenal.

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